Lucknow rape, murder: Why Akhilesh's police force is far too compromised

Lucknow: Is the presence of a large contingent of police a small distance away deterrent enough for criminals preparing to rape, torture and kill a hapless woman? Does the past record of the police in solving a case of heinous crime evoke confidence in the force? Is the police empowered enough to act purely on the merits of a case and take it to the logical end?

In Uttar Pradesh, the answer to all these questions is an emphatic no. While the brutal gangrape and murder of a young woman in Lucknow on Wednesday night came as another example of the growing audacity of criminals in the state, it also brought into sharp focus the diminishing impact of policing in Uttar Pradesh. On its part, the political establishment is sparing no effort to convert the police into a convenient tool in its cynical political games.

The body of the 25-year-old woman was found by locals in a government-run school building in Mohanlalganj just a few kilometres from a village that former US president Bill Clinton visited earlier in the week. She was raped and brutalized before being killed. While there was a great deal of commotion after the body was discovered, it took at least ten hours for any police official of a responsible rank to reach the spot. The policemen who reached earlier were busy clicking pictures of the unclothed, bloodied body with their mobile phones. Some of them are reported to have shared the gory pictures on social media making them go viral within hours. There was no effort to either cordon off the area or cover the body with a sheet. The response of the policemen smacks of rank unprofessionalism, but it surprises none.

The signs of the deep malaise in the police and administrative machinery in Uttar Pradesh are emerging with alarming regularity, indicating that there could be little hope for the state as far as the rule of law and fair and just governance are concerned. Even the policemen are frequent victims of the prevalent situation. Governance and the authority of the state have started withering away.

In the last two years, there have been dozens of cases where policemen or administrative officers have had to face action or punishment for doing their duty. Right from last year’s communal incidents in Bareilly, Ghaziabad, Tanda or Muzaffarnagar, to the recent capture of an excavator engaged in illegal mining, those policemen who did what their calling was have had to face the music. The government, it appears, would like the uniformed force to serve the caste and community interests of the ruling party rather than uphold what is right in law.

Not only policemen but also employees of the power corporation, municipal bodies, excise department, trade tax department or the mining department have had to face the ire of the people whenever a campaign to either check illegal power connections, encroachments, movement of contraband or illegal mining is launched. More than a dozen such cases have been reported from many districts including Lucknow in the last one month itself, pointing to a near collapse of the law enforcement system. “People involved in illegal activities realize that the police or enforcement teams will beat a hasty retreat if threatened or confronted by a crowd,” says political commentator Dilip Agnihotri.

Last year it was a young IAS officer, Durga Nagpal, who was punished for daring to check an illegal construction. The man behind her persecution was said to be a ruling party politician. A ten-year old rape case of Lucknow has not even reached the final state of adjudication since the accused, a relative of a Samajwadi Party politician, has been claiming he was a minor at the time of the incident. Two policemen were suspended in Kanpur on Wednesday when they caught an excavator engaged in illegal mining but the cops were suspended on the charge of being drunk on duty even though a medical examination had given a report to the contrary. A ruling party politician is said to be behind this incident as well.

In two cases in the adjoining districts of Agra and Firozabad in the last one month, three policemen were killed by criminals when the policemen dared to chase them.

In a recent incident in Kaanth near Moradabad, allegedly a one-sided action in removing a loudspeaker from a place of worship led to a serious communal conflict that was controlled with great difficulty. This incident recalled the memories of last year’s Hindu-Muslim riots that too were reportedly sparked by delayed and one-sided action in a case of eve-teasing. A similar case involving a rape and suicide by the victim led to violent protests in Hathras last week. In Kaanth and Hathras, it was largely the members of the Dalit community that were at the receiving end. In May, bodies of two teenaged girls were found hanging from a tree in Badaun and the case is now being probed by the CBI.

Cases of big vehicles showing off red or blue beacons flouting traffic rules with impunity and attempting to run over those who dare stop them are almost an everyday affair in the state.

“It seems that criminal elements feel confident that the government is soft or sympathetic to them and therefore they can do whatever pleases them,” said Bharatiya Janata Party spokesman Vijay Pathak.

In the Moradabad incident, the senior superintendent of police Dharmvir Singh Yadav had made a political statement blaming the BJP for the trouble, in retaliation to which the state BJP president Laxmikant Bajpai said the party will “settle scores” with the SSP when the time comes.

“There would no end to such statements because the politicisation of the state’s police and administrative machinery is complete,” says a serving police officer. “It is no secret that posting of senior level officers is made on political considerations regardless of merit. It is common knowledge that police officers on top posts in the BSP regime are today serving in insignificant posts. It is also common knowledge that men of a particular caste dominate the force today. How can one expect rational reactions in such a situation?” he asks.

Further, almost all officials have regional or caste godfathers who rush to make a phone call to protect them. Then, why at all bother about the government as one entity?

Politicians’ statements too are guided by their stated positions. “Today SP leaders are crying foul that the media and opposition are making an unnecessary hue and cry out of rapes and murders; and when any other party comes to power, the statements will change,” says a Congress leader.

As for the government, it is business as usual, with chief minister Akhilesh Yadav having told chief secretary Alok Ranjan to expedite the inquiry into the Lucknow rape-murder case, and a senior woman police officer has been assigned as the special investigation officer in the case. While senior minister Azam Khan condemned the incident, a Samajwadi Party leader Naresh Agarwal said the media was deliberately projecting the state in a bad light. Another senior SP leader said in a state with 20 crore people, heinous incidents could not be avoided.

A sense of alarm has gripped the residents of Lucknow after the Mohanlalganj incident. “It is scary to know that such a ghastly incident can occur on the outskirts of the state capital. It won’t come as a surprise if the culprits, if caught at all, would turn out to be having political patronage because of their caste or community and would claim to be minors,” said Shanti Devi, a housewife living near Hazratganj area. A college professor Rahul Shukla said it now seemed unsafe to allow girls to go out for work or studies even in Lucknow. Many others, reacting to the string of murders, bank dacoities, attacks on police and government officials wondered whether there is a government in the state at all. The situation as far as the working of other government departments is concerned is no better.

That raises the next question: Is there no hope for Uttar Pradesh?